| Cedarcroft,
Baltimore
City Zip Code(s): 21212
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Location
Cedarcroft is a distinctive residential neighborhood located in
the northern part of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Cedarcroft is
bordered by Gittings, East Lake and Bellona Avenues and York Road.
According to Baltimore City's Commission for Historical and
Architectural Preservation (CHAP), the houses in Cedarcroft are in the
Dutch Colonial Revival, Federal Revival, Tudor Revival, Georgian
Revival, Cape Cod Revival, Bungalow, and Italianate styles of
architecture.
History
Most of the homes in Cedarcroft were built in the 1920s by
the Cedarcroft Land Company. In 1885, Philip E. Lamb purchased 25 acres
(100,000 m2) fronting York Road north of the rural
village of Govanstown. On the property was a house that had been built
in 1846. A few years later, he bought an additional 20 acres
(81,000 m2). He called his estate Cedarcroft, and in
1886 built a frame house which still stands at 6204 Sycamore Road.
The Cedarcroft Land Company was formed
about 1910 by Philip and George Lamb, along with George Van Holland,
William McGeen and C.L. Applegarth. Later they were joined by Frank A.
Warner, Jr., and Edward L. Palmer, the architect credited with the
design of the development, which was between York and Bellona, Lake and
Gittings.
Episcopalians living nearby met in
makeshift quarters and were anxious to build a church. In 1911, the
diocese bought land on the southwest corner of Cedarcroft and York Roads
for $5,000. The church was dedicated in 1913. Ten years later, it was
moved a few hundred feet on soaped beams from the center of the lot so
that a parish house could be added.
The Cedarcroft Land Company was
liquidated in the early 1920s when all the lots had been sold. The
Cedarcroft Maintenance Corporation was chartered and the Cedarcroft
Improvement Association formed. All of the covenants, restrictions and
regulations made by the Land Company were incorporated in the
Maintenance Corporation, still the governing body of Cedarcroft.
The early records of the corporation
and improvement association are kept in a tattered loose leaf binder
with the inked legend "Beginning 1926." But the first records
date from 1929. The treasurer's report that year shows payments of $13
for cutting grass on vacant lots and $112.50 for top soil, hauling
leaves and operating the snow plow.
By 1921 only 30 houses stood within the
neighborhood??s boundaries, however all lots sold quickly. At the time
lots sold for $1800, corner lots for $2000.[4]
The rapid surge of immigrants and Baltimore residents moving north
initiated the creation of Cedarcroft??s Maintenance Corporation and
Improvement Association. All restrictions and requirements set by the
Land Company were preserved. These traditional codes governed the
construction of single family houses of certain value, all built to
neighborhood plan and color scheme regulations.
In 1977 the Cedarcroft Maintenance
Corporation??s covenants remained firm. Plans, color schemes and
renovations were to be submitted to the group for approval. Price floors
were also introduced. Each house was required to cost at least $6000,
yet most selling prices ranged from $40,000 to $60,000. Due to the
larger size and higher values of Cedarcroft houses, the neighborhood saw
a sizable number of young family groups moving in. These family units
most often included professionally employed husbands and wives, and
children who attended area private schools such as Bryn Mawr.
In 2007, 11 units within Cedarcroft
were sold. The average price of these sales was $528,591, the median
being $505,000. Aside from renovations to the houses of the
neighborhood, Cedarcroft looks much as it did in the mid-1900??s. The
distinguishing features of the area are its traditional Beaux-Arts
Revival style houses, as well as narrow streets lined with arched trees,
??reminiscent of medieval arches.??
Located in City Council District Four,
Cedarcroft has been registered as a historic district by the National
Register of Historic Places.
According to the 2000 Demographic
profile, 97.8% of the houses in Cedarcroft are occupied. 75.6% of the
houses are family households.
All in all, Cedarcroft remains a calm
and beautiful neighborhood despite its increasingly urban surrounding.
The tight-knit community comes together naturally, celebrating October
block parties, Halloween parades, and Christmas decoration contests
together. This historic district is quite simply a ??diamond in the
rough?? of an evolving and progressing city.
Demographics
97.8% of the houses in Cedarcroft are occupied and 91.1% of
that number are owner occupied. According to the last census, 91.5% of
the residents are white, 5.1% are black, 1.7% Asian and 2.5% are
hispanic. 21.9% of the white residents are reported as Irish, another
16.7% English, 34.2% German and 14.9% Italian. The median family income
is $99,389 with 0% of those in the workforce unemployed. 100% of the
residents are high school graduates and 34.1% report having a graduate
or professional degree.
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